title: Arterial stiffness measured via carotid femoral pulse wave velocity is associated with disease severity in COPD.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patients with COPD face an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and increased cardiac mortality. Carotid femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) is a validated measure of arterial stiffness, a well recognized predictor of adverse cardiovascular outcomes, and offers higher predictive value than classical cardiovascular risk factors. We investigated the association between COPD and arterial stiffness using cf-PWV as a noninvasive technique.
  
  
  METHODS
  This clinical study was prospective, observational, and cross-sectional. Sixty-two subjects with stable COPD and 22 healthy controls underwent physical examination, chest x-rays, pulmonary function tests, arterial blood gas analysis, and 6-min walk test, and cf-PWV was measured via a validated tonometry system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The COPD subjects had greater arterial stiffness than the control subjects, and that difference was associated with lower FEV1, PaO2, and oxygen saturation during the 6-min walk test. We observed higher cf-PWV in the COPD subjects with severe COPD than in the subjects with mild to moderate COPD. Only FEV1 was an independent predictor of cf-PWV.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that arterial stiffness is increased in subjects with more severe and advanced COPD than in those with mild to moderate COPD. Air flow limitation and hypoxemia may induce increased arterial stiffness in COPD patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Medicine.
authors.forename: Halit
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cinarka
authors.forename: Servet
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kayhan
authors.forename: Aziz
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gumus
authors.forename: Murtaza Emre
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Durakoglugil
authors.forename: Turan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Erdogan
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ezberci
authors.forename: Asiye
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yavuz
authors.forename: Sevket
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ozkaya
authors.forename: Unal
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Sahin
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001784:Blood Gas Analysis; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000502:physiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000503:physiopathology*; D063177:Pulse Wave Analysis; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D059289:Vascular Stiffness / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: COPD; cardiovascular disease; clinical respiratory medicine; inflammation; respiratory function test